FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 17, 2006

Another Country Finds Splenda Ads are
Misleading Consumers
Australian Ad Authority Upholds Complaint
Against Johnson & Johnson, Recommends Ad Be Discontinued

Washington, D.C. [August 17, 2006] – The Advertising Claims Bureau of Australia has upheld a complaint against Johnson & Johnson for misleading consumers about the artificial chemical sweetener Splenda.  According to the ruling, the advertisement “is likely to mislead or deceive consumers” because “reasonable members of the public viewing the advertisement are likely to conclude that a significant portion of the SPLENDA® products are comprised of a modified form of sugar.” 

With this decision, Australia joins New Zealand in finding Splenda ads to be misleading, thus deceiving consumers.  In July 2005, the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority determined that a Splenda ad deceived consumers into thinking Splenda is all natural like sugar.  Both the New Zealand and Australia rulings recommended the misleading ads be discontinued.  Moreover, numerous lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. challenging Splenda’s misleading advertising slogan “made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.”  

The Australian decision validates yet again concerns that consumer advocates in the United States have been voicing for years.  In a statement made in February 2004, Michael F. Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a leading consumer rights group, remarked, “‘Made from sugar’ certainly sounds better than, say, ‘made from chlorinated hydrocarbons.’ He went on to say, “Splenda’s artificiality may present a marketing challenge, but that’s not an excuse to confuse consumers and lead them to believe that Splenda is natural or in any way related to sugar.”

In fact, Splenda does not contain any sugar whatsoever.  It is manufactured in a chemical plant in a process that uses chlorine.  The sweetness of Splenda is due to the chlorocarbon chemical (sucralose) that contains three atoms of chlorine in every one of its molecules.  Splenda is a chemical artificial sweetener; however, Johnson & Johnson would like consumers to believe it is somehow more natural than other artificial sweeteners…which it is obviously not.

“Consumers have the right to know what artificial sweeteners are in the foods they are buying at the grocery store and feeding their families,” said Andy Briscoe, President of the Sugar Association.  “Splenda ads are not honest about its chemical composition.  Splenda is not natural in any way.  There is no sugar in the final product of Splenda.  Johnson & Johnson is spending millions of dollars to falsely advertise their product and they are responsible for misleading consumers.  Just Google ‘Splenda’ and you will see consumers and doctors alike are speaking out about how they have been misled.”

To learn more about the truth about Splenda, please contact Lauren Poplawski at Qorvis Communications at 202-496-1000 or lpoplawski@qorvis.com or visit the website www.truthaboutsplenda.com.

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